Which to use
“main” and “maison” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #385
- “main” frequency rank
- #235
- “maison” frequency rank
- 620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | main | maison |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie du corps humain située au bout du bras, qui s’étend du poignet jusqu’au bout des doigts, qui sert à la préhension et au toucher. | Bâtiment servant de logis, d’habitation, de demeure. |
Where the eye mixes main and maison
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. main (\mɛ̃\) and maison (\me.zɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
main is recorded at frequency rank #385, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ̃\. maison is at rank #235, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.zɔ̃\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 620, this pair ranks #439,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of main vs maison
Shared letters: aimn. Private to "main": -. Private to "maison": os.
"main" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "maison" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC